The 2011 MLOVE ConFestival is a three day gathering of global mobile industry executives, entrepreneurs and developers to discuss the future of mobile technology. The report attached below summarizes key findings.

Insights include:

Worldwide spending on mobile advertising is predicted to be USD $3.3 billion in 2011 then sky rocket to USD $20.6 billion in 2015, driven by search ads and local ads.

Location is everything in retail and now location is in your pocket. It is on your phone. And people still use the opinions of their peers to make decisions about the products they want to buy. The journeys of consumers are no longer linear. They can begin at any time, and companies need to adapt and prepare.

Closer and more profitable consumer relationships are made possible by innovative usage of mobile channels.

Mobile may improve information and service to both partners and customers.

Personalizing digital relationships and experiences is key in today’s marketing strategies. Mobile apps can help do this, especially when one considers the average smartphone user has 30 apps on their phone, 9 of which they have used within the past month. Just think of the marketing possibilities.

Mobile technology connects three times as many people as landlines.

Mobile is about one thing: Communication. Whether its how we communicate with our friends & family, or how brands communicate their product, communication is at the heart of each & every marketing (and mobile) endeavor.

Mobile Business Intelligence (BI)

As users move through their day buying products, “checking-in,” using wi-fi and the like, thousands of data points are being transmitted. Those data points can then be aggregated to target marketing pushes based on the known interests of the consumer, also known as behavioral advertising -- preference data collected is paired with user identifying data then correlated to make suggestions.

Future Consumers

Mobile technology is already altering the way we learn. In many parts of the world today, a young child may grow up in a touch-screen reality.

Teenagers use social networks, Chats, SMS and Mails to share their thoughts, dreams and wishes with their best friends. Most teenagers are Smartphone owners.

Today’s mobile phones are more powerful than the computers used by NASA in 1969.